March 29, 2012 - Thursday
Fly from the US to Catania, Sicily.

Day 2: March 31st - Saturday: Taormina and Etna

Visit to Siracusa and transfer to the Noto Valley.

Depart to Siracusa to visit the archaeological area including the famous Latomie of the Paradise, the Greek Theatre, Tomb of Archimedes, Altar of Hieron II, the Roman Amphitheatre, The Grotta dei Cordari (if open) and the Dyonisios “Ear”. Transfer to the Noto Valley.

O/N in Noto
 

Visit of Noto, Modica, Ragusa.

Visit Noto where our tour will take us to the Cathedral, past Palazzo Trigona, Palazzo Nicolaci or Palazzo Landolina – all renowned for their Baroque architecture and detail. In 2002 Noto was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Next we visit Modica, (another UNESCO World Heritage site) which rebelled against Roman rule in 212BC and thanks to its strategic position, became one of the most important towns in medieval and Renaissance Sicily. Climb the hill to view Duomo San Giorgio, then to Santa Maria di Betlem. Proceed to Ragusa, a city that is divided into two parts: the upper part built after the earthquake in 1693 and the lower part that is called Ragusa Ibla.

O/N in Ragusa
 

Visit of Piazza Armerinaand Morgantina, then transfer to Agrigento.

Today we visit Piazza Armerina, populated in the 14th century by Lombards. See the Aragonese Castle and Cathedral. Then to the famous villa, known as the “Villa Romana del Casale” which contains one of the richest, largest and most complex collection of late Roman mosaics in the world, thanks to a flood which covered them in mud in the 12th century.
 

O/N (outside Agrigento)

Day 6: April 4th - Wednesday: Agrigento

Day 7: April 5th - Thursday: Marsala Holy Thursday Procession, salt road

Day 8: April 6th - Friday: Erice and Holy Friday Procession in Trapani

Day 9: April 7th - Saturday: Segesta and Palermo

Visit of Segesta and transfer to Palermo. Visit of Palermo in the afternoon.

Proceed to Segesta to visit the Doric Temple, which keeps in its stones the weight of a long history, surrounded by a unique landscape.
Located in a port dominated by a peak that faintly resembles the Rock of Gibralter is Palermo, the largest city of Sicily and a jewel of cosmopolitan medieval culture. Tour the city including the Cathedral, the "Palatina" Chapel, and panoramic tour of the town. Palermo looks like any other European Mediterranean city. But first impressions are sometimes deceptive. This is a unique place where the Arab, Byzantine and northern European worlds came together for almost four centuries, leaving their mark on architecture, art, religion and even the local cuisine.

O/N in Palermo

Easter events of Piana degli Albanesi and Prizzi.

We are in the mountain town of Piana degli Albanesi just south of Palermo on Easter Sunday. As the name suggests, Piana degli Albanesi was founded by Albanian immigrants fleeing a Turkish invasion in 1488. Being somewhat isolated, the town has managed to maintain much of its original identity and many of its traditions, one of which is its Orthodox Easter celebrations (it has been a Greek Orthodox Bishopric since 1937). On Palm Sunday, there is a procession through the streets to mark Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem. Festivities continue all week until Easter Sunday when the townsfolk put on their traditional 15th Century costumes and hand out previously blessed red hand-painted eggs. After Mass there is the procession of the Holy Veil, a piece of cloth in which believers can make out the face of Christ.
In the hills south of Palermo is Prizzi where a very different event takes place on Easter Sunday.. Wearing red and black satanic masks complete with horns and grotesque noses, The Dance of the Devils takes place whence a portion of the townsfolk wreak havoc, inviting passers-by to buy them drinks (a metaphor for stealing their souls). In the struggle that ensues between good and evil, it is Christ and the Madonna who triumph, along with other locals dressed as angels. During the ensuing celebrations the devils are "forced" to get the drinks and "cannateddi", a typical Easter cake, is distributed.

San Martino delle Scale Easter Monday celebration – and afternoon visit of Monreale.
 

On Easter Monday at San Martino delle Scale, the monks of the Benedictine Monastery celebrate Easter and the coming of Spring by freeing the birds they have saved from the harsh mountain winter. The birds are kept in a large specially built aviary and their release is part of a tradition that goes back over 300 years. The arrival of Spring is also celebrated with concerts, enormous floral arrangements and Gregorian chant, all of which create a wonderful festive atmosphere.

Overlooking Palermo, the town of Monreale, from the Latin "Mons Regalis" (literally 'Royal Mountain'), straddles a slope of Mount Caputo about eight kilometers south of Palermo's cathedral. Set at about three hundred metres above sea level, the town overlooks the "Conca d'Oro," as the valley beyond Palermo is known.Continue to Monreale to admire the Cathedral with its splendid 12th century mosaics and the cloister of the Benedictines monastery with Moorish architecture. Visit the ornate Piazza Bellini, the cathederal, and the Arab-Norman Palatine Chapel in the Royal Palace. After lunch, drive up to Monreale for a panoramic view of the Conca d’Oro and a visit to the 12th-century Norman Cathedral, famous for its 50,000 square feet of precious byzantine mosaics. The focal point of the town is its cathedral, an amalgamation of Arab, Byzantine and Norman artistic styles framed by traditional Romanesque architecture, representing the best of twelfth-century culture. The mosaics covering the cathedral walls are one of the world's largest displays of this art, surpassed only by Istanbul's Basilica of Saint Sofia, once an Orthodox church. There are a total of 130 individual mosaic scenes depicting biblical and other religious events. The Old Testament is depicted on the walls of the central nave, starting from the Creation and ending with Jacob's Fight with the Angel. The mosaics on the side aisles illustrate the major events of the life of Jesus, from birth to crucifixion, and include a cycle illustrating the miracles worked. Many of the mosaics are accompanied by inscriptions in Latin or Greek. Monreale's mosaics cover over six thousand square metres of the church's's interior, an area larger than those of the splendid church of Saint Mark in Venice.

Attached to the cathedral, the Benedictine cloister courtyard consists of 228 columns (paired, with four on each corner), some inlayed with Byzantine-style mosaic work, each supporting an ornately carved capital. The capitals themselves depict scenes in Sicily's Norman history, complete with knights and kings. The style of the Norman knight figures evokes that of the knights depicted in the Bayeaux Tapestry, a chronicle of the Battle of Hastings.

Monreale is also known for its craft and artisan shops, specializing in ceramic art and mosaics ranging in style from the Byzantine to the Baroque to folk and abstract. Monreale boasts some of the island's best mosaic galleries. Two of these are found on Via Arcivescovado in back of the cathedral. Other noteworthy artisan shops will be found on Via Ritiro and the nearby streets.

Visit of the Reggia di Caserta and afternoon in Naples.
 

Visit of the most beautiful royal palaces, Reggia di Caserta is a masterpiece of harmonious archicture and decorative arts. Visit to the Royal Gardens and afternoon in Naples. Possibilities include the famous National Archaeological Museum of Naples, covering the many excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

O/N in Naples